Monday 29 January 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 29 January 2024 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 19:1-29

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in
the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and
bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, ‘Please, my lords,
turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash
your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.’ They said,
‘No; we will spend the night in the square.’ But he urged them
strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he
made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But
before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both
young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house;
and they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight?
Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.’ Lot went out of the
door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, ‘I beg you, my
brothers, do not act so wickedly. Look, I have two daughters who have
not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you
please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the
shelter of my roof.’ But they replied, ‘Stand back!’ And they
said, ‘This fellow came here as an alien, and he would play the
judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.’ Then they
pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it
down. But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into
the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck with blindness
the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so
that they were unable to find the door.
 Then the men said to Lot, ‘Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law,
sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city—bring them out of
the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry
against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has
sent us to destroy it.’ So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law,
who were to marry his daughters, ‘Up, get out of this place; for the
Lord is about to destroy the city.’ But he seemed to his sons-in-law
to be jesting.

 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Get up, take
your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be
consumed in the punishment of the city.’ But he lingered; so the men
seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord
being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside
the city. When they had brought them outside, they* said, ‘Flee for
your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the
hills, or else you will be consumed.’ And Lot said to them, ‘Oh,
no, my lords; your servant has found favour with you, and you have
shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the
hills, for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die. Look, that
city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape
there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!’ He
said to him, ‘Very well, I grant you this favour too, and will not
overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for
I can do nothing until you arrive there.’ Therefore the city was
called Zoar.* The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the
Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain,
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of
salt.

 Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood
before the Lord; and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and
towards all the land of the Plain, and saw the smoke of the land going
up like the smoke of a furnace.

 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God
remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.
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Hebrews 11:1-12

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen. Indeed, by faith* our ancestors received approval. By
faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God,
so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.*
 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable* sacrifice than
Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself
giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith* he still
speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death;
and ‘he was not found, because God had taken him.’ For it was
attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God.’ And
without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would
approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen,
respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this
he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is
in accordance with faith.
 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing
where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had
been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and
Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked
forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder
is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was
too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him
faithful who had promised.* Therefore from one person, and this one as
good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven
and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’
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John 6:27-40

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures
for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him
that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him,
‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered
them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has
sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us
then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you
performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is
written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus
said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you
the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true
bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which* comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give
us this bread always.’

 Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me
will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not
believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and
anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down
from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of
all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is
indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in
him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last
day.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 56, 57

Psalm 56

Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
   all day long foes oppress me; 
my enemies trample on me all day long,
   for many fight against me.
O Most High, when I am afraid,
   I put my trust in you. 
In God, whose word I praise,
   in God I trust; I am not afraid;
   what can flesh do to me? 

All day long they seek to injure my cause;
   all their thoughts are against me for evil. 
They stir up strife, they lurk,
   they watch my steps.
As they hoped to have my life, 
   so repay* them for their crime;
   in wrath cast down the peoples, O God! 

You have kept count of my tossings;
   put my tears in your bottle.
   Are they not in your record? 
Then my enemies will retreat
   on the day when I call.
   This I know, that* God is for me. 
In God, whose word I praise,
   in the Lord, whose word I praise, 
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
   What can a mere mortal do to me? 

My vows to you I must perform, O God;
   I will render thank-offerings to you. 
For you have delivered my soul from death,
   and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
   in the light of life.

Psalm 57

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
   for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
   until the destroying storms pass by. 
I cry to God Most High,
   to God who fulfils his purpose for me. 
He will send from heaven and save me,
   he will put to shame those who trample on me.
          Selah
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness. 

I lie down among lions
   that greedily devour* human prey;
their teeth are spears and arrows,
   their tongues sharp swords. 

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
   Let your glory be over all the earth. 

They set a net for my steps;
   my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my path,
   but they have fallen into it themselves.
          Selah 
My heart is steadfast, O God,
   my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody. 
   Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
   I will awake the dawn. 
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
   I will sing praises to you among the nations. 
For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
   your faithfulness extends to the clouds. 

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
   Let your glory be over all the earth.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 64, 65

Psalm 64

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
   preserve my life from the dread enemy. 
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
   from the scheming of evildoers, 
who whet their tongues like swords,
   who aim bitter words like arrows, 
shooting from ambush at the blameless;
   they shoot suddenly and without fear. 
They hold fast to their evil purpose;
   they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, ‘Who can see us?* 
   Who can search out our crimes?*
We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.’
   For the human heart and mind are deep. 

But God will shoot his arrow at them;
   they will be wounded suddenly. 
Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin;*
   all who see them will shake with horror. 
Then everyone will fear;
   they will tell what God has brought about,
   and ponder what he has done. 

Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
   and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart glory.

Psalm 65

Praise is due to you,
   O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed, 
   O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come. 
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
   you forgive our transgressions. 
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
   to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
   your holy temple. 

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
   O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
   and of the farthest seas. 
By your* strength you established the mountains;
   you are girded with might. 
You silence the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of their waves,
   the tumult of the peoples. 
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. 

You visit the earth and water it,
   you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
   you provide the people with grain,
   for so you have prepared it. 
You water its furrows abundantly,
   settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
   and blessing its growth. 
You crown the year with your bounty;
   your wagon tracks overflow with richness. 
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
   the hills gird themselves with joy, 
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
   the valleys deck themselves with grain,
   they shout and sing together for joy.
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